Western world While the etymology of the term
opera glove is unknown, gloves of above-the-elbow length have been worn since at least the late 18th century, and gloves reaching to or just below the elbow have been worn by women in Western countries since the 17th century; in an extant engraving of England's
Queen Mary dating from the 1690s she is shown wearing elbow-length gloves. Over-the-elbow gloves were first widely popular during the
Regency/
Napoleonic period (circa 1800–1825), and waned in popularity during the early and mid-Victorian periods (circa 1830–1870), but enjoyed their greatest vogue in the last two decades of the 19th century and the years of the 20th century prior to the start of
World War I. During that period, they were standard for both daytime and evening wear; even some swimming costumes were accessorized with opera gloves.
Etiquette considered gloves to be mandatory accessories for both men and women of the upper classes, so it was uncommon to see a well-dressed woman at a public occasion who was not wearing gloves of some sort. According to several fashion historians, over-the-elbow gloves were re-popularized during the late 19th century by actresses
Sarah Bernhardt in France (to disguise what she considered her overly thin arms) and
Lillian Russell in the United States. The opera glove has enjoyed varying popularity in the decades since
World War I, being most prevalent as a fashion accessory in the 1940s through the early 1960s, but continues to this day to be popular with women who want to add a particularly elegant touch to their formal attire. They have enjoyed minor revivals in fashion design on several occasions, being popular in
haute couture collections in the late 2000s.). They are sometimes worn by entertainers such as
can-can dancers and
burlesque performers in particular during the performance of a
Gown-and-glove striptease. In popular culture, probably the best-known images incorporating opera gloves are those of
Rita Hayworth in
Gilda (1946)
Marilyn Monroe in
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953),
Cinderella from Disney's 1950 film
Cinderella and
Audrey Hepburn in
''Breakfast at Tiffany's''.
Japan In
Japan, some ladies wear long gloves all day in summer, to protect the ideal , or fair skin, which represents beauty, grace, and high social status (as well as purity and divinity in local religions), and avoid any form of tanning. ==Gallery==